Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1887-03-02


f7lr Edward Eced. IN Ii1rpcrs Marlzine1
II may be said. with little or no qualih-
ra-iva. that all other Elrupoan naval pow
ors followed IN the frat place the examrls
So bY the late Emperor Napoleon ILL.,, in
LIE Oiuire.r by covering tho whole Of the
'Nporel part OF tho wor ships hull with
yrIGor plating Al the early iroa-clads OF
Hussin, Itrly, Austria and Germany were
protected from stcm ~ stern. and from
low foot below water To- the upper deck
ugl'ud DID the same in the Casos Of
few ships, although she begin with the
"WartJr' type. IN which the arTnor was
limited 20 tho central part OF the ship. Bat
tho systcm 81 completely covering TIE ex-
posed ship with arInor hs9 now entirely
end properly passed away from European
rraciicc, and has bcen.succccdcd by varisd
urrr1 gerncnts Of arinor.
This Importance Of giving cTcc'un, pro-
lection % the hull 'botwcen wind and wa.
tcr,' as IL is called (signifYing from a few
feet below the watcr.iine 10 a few feet
above that hnc), has boon steadily recog.
LIKED by Confidential Governments, with
tha rarest exceptions. Nothing CORE.
spending tO that wholesale abandonment
of amor fot about a hundred feet ~ each
tud of the ship hich has tcrn prbcti scd
iu tbs Bn;ifh ships Of the "inaexiLie' and
admiral" types is displayed in the linc.
of-hatt'c Ehips - the Continent. In France,
indeed, two such ships were laid down un.
der somc temporary Influence, viz, the
"Breunus' and the Charles Martcl,r bat
they appear 90 have soon fallen under sus.
piCion, and there has not been, 20 my
knowledge any grcut disposition to com.
plctc tham for service l know not what
siRnihctuco IL % be- ATTACHED 60 the fact,
Tut ob.ervo that those two ships have
Lcen omitte altogether from the iron-clad
sI.ps 81 France Published so recently as
May, 1885. i'm tic fHi,c~.h LsHsier of ahip.
ping. which L.oydia Register Committee
'bClioyc will be found Tic most corp,cta
ls, tAat has st boon Pull she'd 70
seems not Improbable. therefore, that The
dangerous system OF exposing tw0-thirds
90 Gao ship's lepg.h % destruction fom
all kinds and every kind Of naval guns,
even The srallc1t, which prevailed I'm the
British navy fer more than twelve years,
ard which has now happily boon super
scdcd IN the powerful new ships "Nilo"
Ini Trafalgar" ob aimed but little more
than momcntary approval in France, and
- likely tO have led TO the condemnation
II the only two ships In which IL was ~
tcmptsd-a result which IL croditable
alike 20 French science and 10 French sa
gac:ty.
la Italy the "Infexiblc" system (Which
has mot In France with the fate wo have
just scent obtained temporary favor, and
was adopted in the "Dulio" and .'Dando-
- two largo ships OF 1lOD1 tons zach, ola
speed cx,ocdin, fifteen klots. and each
carrying four 100 ton guns in tarrets Al
though those ship, arc 80 feet IN length.
even the grnorel belt amidships on belt
In any sense so short a strip Os arm0r may
10 called ~ bat ~ feet long, leaving,
therefore, 2's' feet OF the ship at tho culs
wholly devoid Of wdicr-liue protection
As tho author OF tho ''citRdel system
Van not regard such an arrangement "a
this az "a fair ald reasonable embodiment
~ At, the discr pancy between the armOrcd
n1d unarmOrod portions being greater
lea these two ships than even in
the Ajax and Agamemnon, which
ARE perhaps the worst examples Of the
abuse Of tho Cita!el systom in tn, British
navy. II IL 10 the credit Of the Italian
Government that ships Of this type were
not repeated in their navy; and 1t IL but
right % puint out that thorc were excuses
(waich probably ranked IN the minds OF
the designers as rtdyOas) for more ex-
trcme prOportionato limitation OF the
Citadcls being adopted in the "Duilio" and
'Dando!O" than in the Ajax" and
"Agamemnon." Among these were the
possession by the Italian ships OF heavier
ornaments and of far greater steam.
power and speed than the British ships
poas"sscd-a matter which has given rise &c
new developments in the British uavy-nnd
probably also tho adoption OF somewhat
liner watcr-lines as a means OF attaining
the superior speed. Sc
But even the Observance Of the above
general principle is not alone all that is
desirable In armorel linC-of-b battle ships
IL ~ not well 20 leave even 80 much OF the
ends OF such ships wholly exposed "a NAV
lead to tho speedy loss In a,tiou of her
ateam'ng or steering powers. The armor
bolt should bc Of sufficient length % fairly
guarantee the ship against prompt dis-
ablement In action, AMI 20 do this il must
lie carried very Isuch nearer TO the bow
aud storm than IL has been in the case, of
tho italian ships ('Duilio" and "Dandolo'D
now uudor noticc. Ga the other hand,
where ships are formed with fine water.
lines, and the two opposite sides
arc consequently very near 70 each
other for many feet 10 is
quite Unnecessary 70 covor thHm with
nrmor. Tho buoyancy comprised between
tae two sides at such parts Is very s;nlIl,
Hnd consequently penetration can let BAT
little water into the ship, and do but little
iAlrni. IL IL n matter Tor the exercise of
professional judgment where 10 draw the
limo between tho armorod and the I'm.
armOrod parts In tho new British ships
mile" and Trafalgar" which have excit.
"a great admiration in England. there arc
about sixty feet OF length at each end left
without armOr. and IA the ships have fine
hnoa, but arc ncvcrth 'lcsa OF considerable
l.rCadth at sixty fcot from the ends. IL
Hccms probable that good Judgment has
been shown by their designers in this mat
Ter.
This question Ia ono Of primary consid.
Grafton In the dcs g a 80 import : nj nrfnrred
ships, because the abandonment or a long
bolt Of arinor Is ono OF the few features OF
construction respecting which the design.
era OF tho Continent have s:eadf isily re.
{ aimed from following the example set bv
the Admiralty Office at Whitehall from the
years 1870 TO ISIS. IL will complete the
consideration Of this branch OF the nub-
Ject to say IN Il thore are numerous shin,
OF tho irOn-clad type In foreign navics
in which the arnor Oustifably, as
has Just been shown) stops some
what short OF tho ends, but very few
inulaod In which tho length OF the un
nrmOrad parts exceeds that OF tho ar
moved Among the last named may b
mentioned very questionable class oil
vcsaels (''Sachsen" typc) in the German
navy, aud "a much smaller sea going vessel
belonging % the Argentine Republic
named the "Almirante Erown." which 1:
n well-desigued vessel In other respects
but which, ON account OF her deienseles.
bow and stern, would do better to avoit
than Tight an enemy